Lord of the Flies Human Psychology Presentation

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Transcript of Lord of the Flies Human Psychology Presentation

PsychologyandLord of the FliesThe Bystander Effect"a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any means of help to the victim in an emergency situation when other people are present."

Two major factors that influence bystanders' inaction:social influence: people look to others for cues to actdiffusion of responsibility: someone else will act/helpSigmund Freud's StructuralModel of the Human Psyche123the "id"completely amoral and egocentriccontains basic desires and impulsesseeks pleasure and avoids painthe "ego"contains defensive, cognitive, and executive functionstries to strike a balance between one's primitive urges and realityallows the id's desires to be expressed when the consequences aren't seriousthe "superego"contains a person's ideals and spiritual goalscriticizes and prohibits one's primitive desires and wantsacts as our conscience and makes us feel guilty when weact on our id's desiresGroupthink"a type of thought within a deeply cohesivein-group whose members try to minimizeconflict and reach consensus withoutcritically testing, analyzing, and evaluatingideas."individual creativity and independent thinking are often lost or discouragedunique viewpoints and individual doubts are ignored or cast asidepoor or hasty decisions may be madeIrving Janis's8 SymptomsofGroupthink12345678Rationalizing warnings that mightchallenge the group's assumptionsUnquestioned belief in the moralityof the group, causing members toignore the consequences of their actionsStereotyping those who are opposedto the group as weak, evil, biased,spiteful, impotent, or stupidDirect pressure to conform placed onany member who questions the groupcouched in terms of "disloyalty"Self-censorship of ideas that deviatefrom the apparent group consensusIllusions of unanimityamong group members(i.e. silence is viewedas agreement)Mind guards:self-appointed memberswho shield the groupfrom dissenting informationObedience to Authority:The Milgram ExperimentYale University psychologist Stanley Milgram created and conducted an experiment to testhow willing people would be to obey an authorityfigure who instructs them to perform acts thatare at odds with their personal conscience.

Milgram's experiment was inspired by the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who was hanged for his part in organizing the Holocaust and had plead that he was simply following orders.His experiment led him to develop two theories: a theory of conformism and agentic state theoryTheory of ConformismAgentic State Theory"A subject who has neither abilitynor expertise to make decisions,especially in a crisis, will leavedecision making to the group andits hierarchy.""The essence of obedience consists in the fact that a person comes to view himself as the instrument for carrying out another person's wishes, and he therefore no longer sees himself as responsible for his actions. Once this critical shift in viewpoint has occurred in the person, all of the essential features of obedience follow."IIlusions of invulnerabilitycreating excessive optimismand encouraging risk takingType this link into your browser to see the above video, which is an example of groupthink: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bH_fCvNLCwTo see the above video, which is a re-enactment of the Milgram Experiment, type the following link into your browser: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6GxIuljT3w